The Best Joke In The Resident Evil Movie Is Invisible If You Have Never Played The Games

Resident Evil as a game series has been around for 30 years, with the first releasing in 1996. The series revolutionized survival horror as a genre, popularized the over-the-shoulder, third-person camera mechanic with Resident Evil 4, and played a part in bringing zombies back to the forefront of pop culture. It’s no surprise there have been many attempts to bring it to the screen, with 2026’s Resident Evil movie being the latest.

Despite previous adaptations missing the mark, Zach Cregger saw the potential to reboot Resident Evil into the film it deserved to be: a heart-pumping and brutal showcase of zombie-infused survival and psychological horror — balanced with just enough dark humor to make it feel reminiscent of the campy, over-the-top nature of the games. In my opinion, Cregger gives audiences exactly that. He even aims his best joke at those well acquainted with the game: a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Easter egg of our main character brushing over a much-needed “save point.”

‘Resident Evil’s Best Joke Involves a Typewriter Casual Viewers May Overlook

Those Familiar With the Game Franchise Will Get What It Means

A successful adaptation doesn’t have to be a one-to-one retelling of a game’s story if the creator knows the source material well enough, which Cregger clearly does. An original story that’s separate from the games can work in their favor — I’m looking at you, Fallout — as it gives the creators freedom to explore the world and expand on it in ways that feel even tangible and intriguing. Yet it’s still important to cater to players of the game.

Cregger walks that balance well, demonstrating that he gets the source material he’s adapting. He understands that Resident Evil is about more than just zombies, and he nails the balance between scares and dark humor. The comedic elements are worked in throughout the film, and one of the best examples will likely be overlooked by casual moviegoers. It arrives when Resident Evil‘s lead, Bryan (Austin Abrams), is trapped in a house and searching for anything he can use to defend himself against an unknown monster.

In one of the rooms he checks, Bryan sees a typewriter, but nothing else of note. He lets out a desperate and annoyed expletive before moving on to the next room. This may seem like nothing at first glance, but it’s a nod to the games. In many Resident Evil games, typewriters can be found in safe rooms and act as save points, allowing the player to take a breath, save their progress, and prepare for what lies ahead. Most of the time, coming across a save point in Resident Evil indicates that something big is about to happen, possibly even a boss fight. That makes it a clever and comical Easter egg for Bryan to find one as he’s on the run.

As a person who knows the implications of what seeing a typewriter means in the game, you know that poor Bryan is presumably in for quite a fight, even if he doesn’t yet. In that way, it honors the games and raises the tensions for those familiar with them. This is one of many Easter eggs that Cregger weaves into Resident Evil. It demonstrates a certain cleverness, as well as the fact that he knows his stuff. It’s no wonder, then, that this is the adaptation of the video game franchise that finally gets it right. It really is about the details.